Dome Camera Advice

[nelus 0]

Hi Guys,

 

Done a lot of reading about Dome Cameras and now I'm getting a bit confused.

 

I need a Dome Camera for indoor use ( Ground floor hallway of a building) and I need a view angle of 90% if possible, or as much as I can but not more than 90 degrees (not needed)

 

Camera is positioned on the left corner of the Hall (see attached picture) and I need to see on both doors. What do you suggest?

 

After my research I think a 1/3 CCD with 420TV, 3.5 mm lens will do the Job.

 

Searching on the internet I've got few models but they're a bit pricey for me, altough they do have more things like: Vari focal, Auto Iris, BLC.

Does it make a big difference for having Vari Focal, Auto Iris and so on?

 

[Chosen Models:

 

After searching more I got this one:]

[mod edit no store links please]

 

 

Is it better with Auto Pan? Do you think it will work on motion? or...?

 

Just to mention that Everybody in the building will access the camera through their TV but I access it on my PC with iCatcher Software.

 

 

Please advise!

 

 

P.S If you know any good prices and other models please let me know...[/b]

[nelus 0]

Hallway (srry, cannot attach image)

[nelus 0]

Common guys...some advice? ...

 

 

Srry about the links but that was the only way to show the camera type.

 

 

If I have to choose from 2 models:

 

1)

Overwiev

1/3" SONY SUPERHAD CCD Image sensor with SONY DSP

Resolution options ( 540TVL)

Fixed focal Lens 3.6mm(72) or 6mm(45)

Minimum Illumination 0.8Lux

Auto AGC and BLC control

 

Details:

Image Device 1/3" SONY (SuperHAD) interline CCD

Resolution 540TV Lines

Minimum Illumination 1.0 / 0.8Lux

Gain Control Automatic

BLC Automatic

Electronic Shutter Automatic, 1/60(1/50) ~ 1/100,000 SEC

Video Output 1Vp-p Composite / 75Ω

Power DC 12V

Lens f3.6mm (standard)

Dimensions 75 (dia) x 115H

 

 

2)

Overview:

1/3" SONY CCD Image sensor

Resolution options (420TVL )

Vari-focal 3.5-8mm (70 -> 34 degrees viewing), Auto Iris Lens)

Minimum Illumination 0.1Lux

Auto AGC and BLC control

 

Details:

Image Device 1/3" SONY CCD

Resolution 420 and 540 TV Lines

Minimum Illumination 0.1Lux

Gain Control Automatic

BLC Automatic

 

Electronic Shutter Automatic, 1/60(1/50) ~ 1/100,000 SEC

 

Auto Iris AES

 

White Balance AUTO range: 3200-10000K

 

Video Output 1Vp-p Composite / 75Ω

Power DC 12V

Lens f3.5-8mm vari-focal

Dimensions 125 (dia) x 95H

 

 

 

Is it better with the vari-focal and auto iris but 420TVL or without them but with 530TVL? How does that vari focal actions? is it really that important?

 

 

Many Thanks![/b]

[Soundy 1]

You don't need varifocal - all that means is you can adjust the focal length of the lens and thus the field of view. You already know the FOV you need, and you'll need a 2.8mm or 2.6mm lens to get your full 90 degrees (note the specs on that varifocal lens - 3.5 to 8mm and the widest it sees is 70 degrees).

 

Auto-iris allows the camera to adjust better to widely-varying lighting conditions, but watching doors in a hallway, unless there's a lot of outside light coming in, you probably don't need that either.

 

Don't get too hung up over TVL either; in a lot of cases, especially with cheaper cameras, those numbers are "fudged" anyway, and with an FOV that wide, you're not going to catch small facial details anyway unless you go to megapixel.

 

A simple dome with basic 2.6 or 2.8mm lens and a *true* TVL rating of 420-480 should suffice nicely.

[nelus 0]

Thanks, Soundy...that's great.

 

That's all I needed - some confident answer, because after all my reasearch ==> my conclusion was the same;... but after I called so many companies I got really confused.

 

Now, my next step is to find a camera with 2.8mm/2.6mm lens which I haven't seen in UK (yet); I don't need face detail( I know everybody in the company - easy to identify for vandalism) but the angle should be close to 90 degrees to catch as much as I can for both doors...

 

Thanks again...I hope I can find my desired camera!

[rory 0]

neither of those.

Get either a 420TVL with a fixed lens, or a 530+TVL with a Varifocal AI Lens.

AI Varifocal lenses are obviously better than a basic fixed board lens, but you may not need it in that location. If you can get a Varifocal lens with a 2.8-11mm lens then that should cover the wide view you want, with less blurr on the edges as found with 2.8mm fixed lenses. it is true that TVL is not what counts, it is the Total Effective Pixels that matters, check the specs for that, if it doesnt even say that, perhaps skip that camera and look for one that does, you want somewhere in the area of 811x508 for a high res camera, the lower res (eg. 420TVL) will be around 508x ..

 

BTW if you cant locate a dome with a 2.5 or 2.8mm lens already installed in it, you can always buy a camera with a 4mm fixed board lens, then buy a 2.5mm fixed board lens separately and install it yourself.

[nelus 0]

Thanks Rory!

 

Your idea with a new board sounds great because I had a small camera (no name camera with Sharp chips in a egg shape) in place which now is broken.

 

I couldn't find my camera model because has no name on it but I found some data sheets of the chip processors LR38269 and IR3Y38M.

 

I didn't like that camera anyway but I hope I won't buy the same board...

[Soundy 1]

Most domes you find will be just a board camera inside the dome enclosure, and almost all of them, especially at the lower-cost end, will use the same lenses as other board cameras. The shorter lens should be fairly easy to find, even if, as rory notes, you don't find a camera that comes with it.

[nelus 0]

Thanks Guys,

 

I bought a camera with:

 

1/3 HR Colour CCD

771(H) x 492(V) NTSC

753(H) x 582 (V) PAL

500TVL

0.6 Lux

2.5 Lens

 

Now I have a question on connection...please let me know if I'm right or wrong.

 

On the Wall I have 3 wires: Red, Black, Yellow

On the Camera Cables (BNC + DC Power) I have 4 cables: Red, Black (from power) White Black(from BNC).

 

I know red is positive and black negative and I will connect them red (wall) - red (dc power) , black (wall) - black (dc power).

 

Now, should I connect the yellow one with white and leave black alone? I assume the black one is shielding on the BNC and White Video?

 

 

Many Thanks.

[Soundy 1]

That SHOULD be the case. Most cheap 12VDC-powered cameras of this type have a common ground between power and video, so the black wire would be ground for both.

[nelus 0]

That SHOULD be the case. Most cheap 12VDC-powered cameras of this type have a common ground between power and video, so the black wire would be ground for both.

 

 

So, should I connect both Black cables from camera to the Black cable from the wall? or connect just one? the one from power or the one from bnc?

[Soundy 1]

You SHOULD only need to connect one, as they're probably connected internally anyway...

[nelus 0]

You SHOULD only need to connect one, as they're probably connected internally anyway...

 

Both black cables are connected to the Camera Board through a berg (like one) connector.

[rory 0]

wait .. on the wall there is 3 wires?? What are wires doing on the wall? Where does that wire go?? Normally there should be a video cable, and then a power cable, both having separate grounds.

 

Anyway, typically the camera cable, the grounds are shared. If you were to cut the cable from the camera right before the big block in the plastic, you should see the 3 wires only, red, black, and yellow. Dont need to do that just saying.

[nelus 0]

wait .. on the wall there is 3 wires?? What are wires doing on the wall? Where does that wire go?? Normally there should be a video cable, and then a power cable, both having separate grounds.

 

Anyway, typically the camera cable, the grounds are shared. If you were to cut the cable from the camera right before the big block in the plastic, you should see the 3 wires only, red, black, and yellow. Dont need to do that just saying.

 

Yes, there are three wires coming from the wall...which are further connected to a splitter (+ power) and the splitter is connected to the whole building so any office can have access on their TV through an Antenna; this is how it was built.

 

Anyway I cut the wires and connected both black (from camera) to the black one (from the wall), then red to red and white (from camera) to yellow (from wall) ==> It worked, everything seems like it was before + better Quality!

 

Both black wires where in fact the shields for red & white cables, so each wire had it's one shield separately, ==> covered separately in another coat.

 

 

Hope that helps for further people who encounter the same problem!

 

 

Thanks Guys...I hope it will last a while now!

 

Cheers!